A single version of the song was previously released that year and was performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle. This version is played in the movie's end credits and is referred on the soundtrack as "Aladdin's Theme".[3] This version peaked at number one on the BillboardHot 100chart on March 6, 1993,[5] replacing Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", which had spent a then record 14 weeks at the top of the chart. It went gold and sold 600,000 copies domestically.[6][7] The track peaked at number 12 in the UK Singles Chart in 1992.[3] The song is the first and only song from a Disney animated film to top the Billboard Hot 100. The single version was later included on Belle's studio album Passion (1993) and on Bryson's studio album Through the Fire (1994).[8][9] The Latin American rendition of the song, "Un Mundo Ideal", by Ricardo Montaner and Michelle received airplay throughout Latin America.[10] This rendition was later included on Montaner's greatest hits album Éxitos y... Algo Más (1993).[11]

In the second season of American Idol in 2003, eventual winner Ruben Studdard sang the song on Movie Night. It was noted that season that "A Whole New World" was the most commonly used audition song, and a montage of "A Whole New World" auditions was aired to emphasize it.[citation needed]